Patrick MacGill
by George J. Dance Patrick MacGill (24 December 1889 - November 1963) was an Irish poet, journalist, and novelist, known as "The Navvy Poet". Life Youth MacGill was born in Ardun in the Glen of Glenties, co. Donegal, the eldest of 11 children of William and Bridget MacGill, a peasant family. He had 3 years of schooling in Mullanmore National School, leaving when he was 10. His parents, unable to support all the family, sent him at 12 to the Strabane hiring fair, where he was bought by a farmer in co. Tyrone At 14 he escaped, and came to Scotland with a gang of 'tattie-howkers: gangs of Irish youths who made the annual trip to Scotland to work on the potato harvest. By his own account, he fell into bad habits, lost all his money gambling, and was ashamed to return home.Brian D. Osborne, Patrick Macgill - The Navvy Poet, Scots Magazine, September 2001, Brian D. Osborne's Weblog. Web, Aug. 3, 2014. For the next few years, he wandered through Scotland, living as a tramp, a farm hand, a street sweeper, and finally a navvy (construction laborer). During this time, he became a member of Scotland's circulating libraries and educated himself by reading such authors as Thomas Carlyle, Victor Hugo, Rudyard Kipling, and Bret Harte.Patrick MacGill - The 'Navvy Poet', Ask About Ireland. Web, Aug. 3, 2014. Early career Macgill was reportedly inspired to begin writing poetry by reading Kipling's Barrack-Room Ballads. In 1910, he had some of his own poems, as well as translations of some of Lafontaine's fables and poems by Goethe, printed in the Derry Journal at his own expense. The following year he self-published his earliest book, Gleanings from a Navvy's Scrapbook, a mixed pamphlet of prose and verse which he hawked to railroad passengers in his spare time.Soldier Songs (review), New York Times, July 15, 1917.. Web, Aug. 2, 2014. He also sold his book, at sixpence a copy, house to house around Greenock. One house he called at belonged to novelist Neil Munro, who wrote about MacGill in his column in the Glasgow Evening News. Munro's column was picked up by the London press, which "produced a flood of orders from England." Gleanings would ultimately sell 8,000 copies. MacGill then moved to England to work for the London Daily Express, whose editor had "read the Gleanings, was struck by their originality, looked him up, and gave him work." However, reportedly disliking the routine, he soon turned to free-lancing. He was then hired by the eccentric canon of St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, as his secretary and librarian. He published another chapbook, Songs of a Navy, in 1912, and his debut commercial poetry collection, Songs of the Dead End, in 1913. Bestselling novelist MacGill then turned his attention to prose, writing a novel, Children of the Dead End, into which he "poured vivid and colourful descriptions of the life he had led until then, his family’s struggle for existence, his days as a hired boy in Tyrone, the hard conditions he had endured in the fields of Scotland and the characters he had met in the navvies’ huts in Scotland. More controversially, he attacked the system, not only in Britain but also in Ireland, for the human misery in which he and so many of his countrymen lived and worked at the time." Published in March 1914, the novel was an immediate success, selling 15,000 copies in just 3 months. MacGill followed its success with a non-fiction work, Autobiography of a Navvy, and a 2nd autobiographical novel, The Rat-Pit, published in 1915. During World War I, MacGill volunteered with the Irish Rifles and served as a stretcher-bearer. He was wounded at the Battle of Loos on 28 October 1915 and invalided back to London, where he married romantic fiction writer Margaret Gibbons. His war experiences served as inspiration for another collection of poetry (Songs of a Soldier) and a number of other fiction and non-fiction works. After the war MacGill continued to write novels, publishing almost one a year through the 1920's. His wife also continued to write and publish fiction. She also bore him twin daughters, Patricia and Christine, in 1923, and a 3rd daughter, Sheila, in 1928. Later years In 1930 MacGill's play Suspense was staged in London and on Broadway. MacGill moved to the United States in that year, perhaps with an idea of breaking into the Hollywood film industry: Suspense was filmed in 1930, and MacGill had a minor role in Noel Coward's Cavalcade in 1932. However, a film career never materialized. A later play, So Said the Woman, was produced both in Hollywoood and on Broadway. MacGill then moved to Florida, where he wrote 4 more published novels. After Helen Spenser in 1937, he seems to have stopped writing. He died in Florida in 1963, after suffering for a number of years from multiple sclerosis. He is buried in Notre Dame Cemetery in Fall River, Massachusetts, the town where his daughter Patricia was living. Recognition A statue of MacGill is on the bridge where the main street crosses the river in Glenties. The Patrick MacGill Summer School was founded in Glenties in 1980, and conducted annually since, to commemorate the author's life and work.Joe Mulholland, About Patrick MacGill, MacGill Summer School. Web, Aug. 3, 2014. In popular culture In 2008-2009 a docu-drama (Child of the Dead End) was made of his life, starring Irish actor Stephen Rea as MacGill. Publications Poetry *''Gleanings from a Navvy's Scrapbook'' (mixed poetry & prose). Greenock, Scotland, UK: privately published, 1911. *''Songs of a Navvy. Windsor, UK: privately published, 1911. *Songs of the Dead End'' (includes Gleanings from a Navvy's Scrapbook & Songs of a Navvy). London: Year Book Press, 1913. *''Soldier Songs. London: Herbert Jenkins, 1917; Toronto: William Briggs, 1917; New York: E.P. Dutton, 1917. *''Songs of Donegal. London: Herbert Jenkins, 1921. *''The Navvy Poet: The collected poetry of Patrick MacGill''. London & Dover, NH: Caliban Books, 1984; Dingle, Co. Kerry, Ireland: Brandon, 1984. Novels *''Children of the Dead End: The autobiography of an Irish navvy. London: Herbert Jenkins, 1914; New York: Dutton, 1914. *The Rat-Pit. London: Herbert Jenkins, 1915; New York: Doran, 1915. *The Brown Brethren. London: Herbert Jenkins, 1917; New York: Doran, 1917. *The Dough-boys. New York: Doran, 1918; London: Herbert Jenkins, 1919. *Glenmornan. New York: Doran, 1918; London: Herbert Jenkins, 1919; London & Dover, NH: Caliban Books, 1983. *Maureen. London: Herbert Jenkins, 1920; New York: R.M. McBride, 1920. *''Fear!. London: Herbert Jenkins, 1921. *''Lanty Hanlon: A comedy of Irish life''. London: Herbert Jenkins, 1923; New York & London: Harper, 1923; *''Moleskin Joe''. London: Herbert Jenkins, 1923; New York & London: Harper, 1923; London & Dover, NH: Caliban Books, 1983. *''The Carpenter of Orra''. London: Herbert Jenkins, 1924. *''Sid Puddiefoot''. London: Herbert Jenkins, 1926. *''Black Bonar''. London: Herbert Jenkins, 1928. *''Tulliver's Mill''. London: Herbert Jenkins, 1934. *''The Glen of Cana''. London: Herbert Jenkins, 1934. *''The House at the World's End''. London: Herbert Jenkins, 1935. *''Helen Spenser''. London: Herbert Jenkins, 1937; London & Dublin: Mellifont Press, 1945. Play *''Suspense: A play in three acts''. London: Herbert Jenkins, 1930. Non-fiction *''The Autobiography of a Navvy''. London: Herbert Jenkins, 1914. *''The Amateur Army. London: Herbert Jenkins, 1915. *The Great Push: An episode of the Great War. London: Herbert Jenkins, 1916; New York: George H. Doran, 1916; New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1916; London & Dover, NH: Caliban Books, 1984; Dingle, Co. Kerry, Ireland: Brandon, 1984. *The Red Horizon. London: Herbert Jenkins, 1916; New York: Doran, 1916; New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1916; London & Dover, NH: Caliban Books, 1984; Dingle, Co. Kerry, Ireland: Brandon, 1984. *''The Diggers: The Australians in France. London: Herbert Jenkins, 1919. *''Rifleman MacGill's War: A soldier of the London Irish during the Great War in Europe: Including 'The amateur army', 'The red horizon', The great push'.'' Driffield, UK: Leonaur, 2007. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Patrick MacGill, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Aug. 2, 2014. See also * List of Irish poets References Notes External links ;Poems *3 poems by MacGill: "A Spring Idyll," "Fate," "After Loos" * Patrick Macgill in Modern British Poetry, 1920: "By-the-Way," "Death and the Fairies" *Patrick MacGill at AllPoetry (10 poems) *Patrick MacGill at Poety Nook (132 poems) ;Books * ;Audio / video *Child of the Dead End (extract) on Vimeo *Opening of Patrick MacGill Summer School at YouTube ;Books *Patrick MacGill at Amazon.com ;About *"Patrick Macgill: The navvy poet" by Brian D. Osborne *Patrick Macgill: The navvy poet at Ask About Ireland *"Patrick MacGill: The navvy poet and the war of words" * Patrick MacGill: The navvy poet¸ Official website. *''Soldier Songs'' reviewed at the New York Times ;Etc. * MacGill Summer School Category:Irish poets Category:1889 births Category:1963 deaths Category:People from County Donegal Category:British Army personnel of World War I Category:London Regiment soldiers Category:20th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:War poets Category:Working-class poets